South Barrington bans short-term renting in wake of 2016 area shooting

Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press

South Barrington Village President Paula McCombie, pictured during a 2017 event, recently said a 2016 shooting in the area motivated village officials to prohibit short-term housing arrangements in South Barrington.

South Barrington Village President Paula McCombie, pictured during a 2017 event, recently said a 2016 shooting in the area motivated village officials to prohibit short-term housing arrangements in South Barrington. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press)

Some residents in South Barrington also approached officials about their concerns with allowing unregulated short-term home rentals, leading officials to include language about preserving "the quiet enjoyment of residential properties and neighborhoods within the village" in the amended ordinance, which South Barrington board members unanimously approved Feb. 8, village officials said.

The measure generally takes aim at shorter housing arrangements, many of which have been made in recent years through online sites like airbnb.com and vrbo.com.

A main restriction under the change, residential property owners in South Barrington now cannot lease or rent their homes out to others for less than a four-month period. Anyone in violation of the new prohibition can be fined between $1,000 and $5,000 a day, the ordinance states.

Village President Paula McCombie said some homeowners associations in South Barrington wanted help from the village on stemming the influx of strangers coming into neighborhoods.

"They've called us because they want a resident living next door in a house rather than someone short term," she said. "With this amended ordinance in place, associations don't have to worry about short-term rentals."

A shooting in April 2016 along Route 14, near Shorely Drive, in Barrington also motivated South Barrington officials to create the new prohibition, both McCombie and Village Administrator Robert Palmer said.

At the time of the incident, authorities said three men from Joliet fired several rounds from their vehicle at two other people in another car after both groups left a house party inside a short-term rented home in Lake Barrington.

Both individuals were injured in the shooting but ultimately recovered from their injuries, police have said. The three men from Joliet each were charged with aggravated battery with a firearm.

Within days of the incident, Lake Barrington officials acted quickly to pass their own local prohibition on short-term housing rentals, prohibiting homeowners from leasing out properties for less than three months.

In the months that followed the Lake Barrington incident, officials in South Barrington contemplated and then worked to develop a proposal that prohibited short-term rentals within their village boundaries.

After voting for the amended ordinance Feb. 8, South Barrington Trustee Joseph Abbate said that about six residents have complained to the village about people living in short-term rented homes.

"People coming into the neighborhood who residents don't know," Abbate said of the complaints. "One was a complaint on noise and rowdiness, while the others were about strangers."